China defies US power and Russia

In recent years, Beijing has been taking the lead in some fields thanks to the modernization of its army.

This has caused the United States to stop comparing with Russia to do with China in certain aspects, warned the International Institute for Strategic Studies in a report last year.

Turning the country into a leading military power has been one of the great objectives of the current Chinese president, Xi Jinping, who promoted the reform of the armed forces after his inauguration in 2013.

What are China's military advances that now make the US compare with Beijing and not with Moscow

The naval plan of China to overcome the United States Navy and control the Pacific in 2030

Part of the investment of the Asian country lies in high technology, a field where its most important "advantages" are found.

In recent years, Beijing has been developing new high-tech weapons and renewed its army to the point of be able to challenge the power of the United States or Russia in some aspects.

"The result of the multidimensional technology acquisition strategy is an ELP (Chinese People's Liberation Army) about to deploy some of the most modern weapons systems in the world," says a report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

"In some areas, he is already a leader", says the study, titled" The Military Power of China "and published this month.

However, the specialists consulted by BBC Mundo recommend caution. The opacity of the Chinese regime and especially the secrecy surrounding its military or military development make it impossible to know many details of its advances in this sector.

Here we present three new recently announced weapons:

1. The "most powerful" naval weapon

Experts believe that China can change "the playing field" with a naval weapon of extraordinary power.

The official newspaper Global Times published on January 3 that Chinese ships will soon be equipped with a cannon that uses electromagnetic energy that fires projectiles with a "incredible destructive speed"

Copyright of the imageU.S. NAVYImage captionThe United States has conducted tests on these weapons, like this one in 2012.

The United States works on similar weapons and Russia and Iran they have also shown interest, but the Chinese media say that the country has taken the lead.

Citing a report by the state broadcaster CCTV, the Global Times notes that the technology is based on Chinese "intellectual property" and that the 055 destroyer is expected to install the weapon.

The device stands out for its precision and ability to reach targets at greater distance in less time, but it is an extremely expensive technology.

The news comes after the dissemination of some photographs on social networks last December of alleged evidence of this type of cannon in the sea. Although the veracity of the same could not be confirmed by BBC World.

The Global Times, in addition, indicates that last February the same ship with this type of cannon was photographed in port.

The US Navy has carried out tests of this type of weapons on land and plans to carry them out in ships in the sea, but he has not yet achieved it.

Military analyst and former Chinese Army member Song Zhongping explained to the newspaper South China Morning Post that Beijing is working on "converting this new technology into a propulsion system (…) for massive use in arms on ships and maglev trains (magnetic levitation) and even to replace rockets to launch satellites into space ".

"China has not stopped its efforts to match the electromagnetic technology of the United States," said Song Zhongping, after the release of the images last year.

Copyright of the imageGETTY IMAGESImage captionChinese naval exercises in the South China Sea.

The photographs, according to Song, showed that not only China was on the heels of the United States in this field, but "could advance it in the next 5 to 10 years."

"The United States needs more time to approve budgets, while China's political system allows invest more in special projects. "

However, several Western experts consulted by BBC World showed their skepticism on the matter considering that it is not possible to verify the authenticity of the news or in what state the development of these artifacts is found.

Last year, the US network CNBC published data from a report by the US intelligence service that predicted that China will have "ready for the war" these cannons in 2025.

According to that source, China is capable of reaching a goal 199 kilometers away at a speed of up to 2.5 km per second.

2. Hypersonic devices

China reported for the first time in 2018 its advances in hypersonic technology.

In August, the Asian country carried out its first test of a hypersonic flying device, both for commercial flights and for missiles capable of dodging conventional anti-aircraft systems.

In the test, the device, developed by the State Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and called Xingkong-2 ("Starry Sky"), reached 30 kilometers in height and a speed of up to 7344 km / h.

Copyright of the imageGETTY IMAGESImage captionRussia and the United States also develop hypersonic weapons. In this photo, a test of a Russian model.

The device, propelled by space rockets, has a special wedge-shaped design that makes it possible to take advantage of own waves of shock that occur when flying to reach ultra-fast speeds, according to the official media.

Until then, it was known that the Ministry of Defense had been carrying out tests since 2014 but no details had been published.

Russia and the United States are also working on innovations of this type (Moscow has even tried them on the ground already) and Washington fears to stay lagging.

"The development of China's hypersonic weapons surpasses ours … we are falling behind," Admiral Harry Harris acknowledged in February last year, when he led the US Pacific Command.

Copyright of the imageGETTY IMAGESImage captionHarris acknowledged that the United States should invest more to not be left behind.

"We need to continue these efforts and more intensely to ensure that we have the capacity both to defend ourselves against China's hypersonic weapons and to develop our own offensive hypersonic weapons, "he told lawmakers, according to the AFP news agency.

His statements came months before Beijing confirmed the aforementioned test but shortly after a Japanese media reported that the Asian country had developed a new type of hypersonic missile, the DF-17.

3. Your own version of the "mother of all bombs"?

The month of December also brought a novelty in the field of arms in China: the oriental version of the "mother of all pumps"

The Chinese arms giant Norinco presented a new type of aerial bomb for the first time in a promotional video. In it, broadcast by means linked to the government, it shows how it is launched from a bomber and causes a big explosion, although more details of the alleged test are unknown.

The official Xinhua news agency described the device as the Chinese version of the "mother of all bombs", referring to the one used by the United States for the first time in Afghanistan in 2017.

Copyright of the imageAFP / US AERIAL FORCEImage captionThe MOAB, or "mother of all bombs", is part of the arsenal of the United States Air Force.

Another report by the newspaper Global Times echoed this innovation and pointed out that it is the "non-nuclear bomb" More powerful" from the country.

The analyst Wei Dongxu, from Beijing, calculated from the images spread that the bomb measured approximately between 5 and 6 meters long and can "completely destroy targets such as fortified buildings" and other defense constructions.

China's arms industry giant NORINCO for the first time showcased a new type of massive aerial bomb, which is the Chinese version of the "Mother of All Bombs" due to its huge potential destruction that is claimed to be only second to nuclear weapons. https://t.co/Xwa470K0R5 pic.twitter.com/bWDvmfvcyk

Despite the comparison, Wei said that the Chinese pump is smaller than the American and "less heavy", which it considered an advantage to be transported.

The American bomb, the GBU-43 / B Massive Ordnance Air Blasts, is a weapon with GPS system that weighs about 9,800 kilos, according to an article in the specialized publication Eglin Air Force Base.

How powerful is the GBU-43 / B MOAB, the "mother of all bombs" that the US launched against Islamic State in Afghanistan

Each of these pumps costs around US $ 16 million, says the specialized defense portal Deagel, and the United States has twenty.

In this "battle" for the most powerful bomb, Russia is not left out either: Moscow claims to have the "father of all bombs", an artifact that, according to the Kremlin, is 4 times more powerful than the one used by the US. in Afghanistan.

How is "the father of all bombs", the weapon that according to Russia is 4 times more powerful than the one launched by the USA? in Afghanistan

As in the Chinese case, however, with Russia, analysts also doubt their capacity due to the limited information available.